This invention relates generally to evaporative coolers and more particularly to an improved evaporative cooler wherein the top cover is hinged to the one-piece, frameless shell of the cooler housing and held in the closed position by a latching mechanism and wherein the evaporative pad assemblies and other components are easily removable from above when the top cover is open without further disassembly of the cooler.
Reference may be made to the following U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,080,410; 4,029,723; 3,290,020; 3,075,750; and 2,631,831. Also of general interest are the following U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,026,971; 3,978,174; 3,953,551; 3,867,486; 3,738,621; and 3,698,158.
Evaporative coolers, such as those disclosed in the aforementioned references, utilize the well-known principle of heat absorption by moisture evaporation to cool or condition hot, dry ambient air from the outside prior to its delivery into an enclosure such as a mobile home or a building. The basic components of an evaporative cooler generally include an outer housing including a shell which encloses evaporative pads, a water pump and distribution system to wet the evaporative pads, and a motor-driven blower or fan which draws the hot, dry ambient air through louvered side wallls of the shell and the moistened pads, causing evaporation of the water from the pads. As the water evaporates, the heat is absorbed from the ambient air and the evaporatively-cooled air is then directed into the enclosure through a duct leading from the cooler.
Because the surface area of the wetted pads must be significant to provide sufficient cooling capacity, evaporative coolers which are presently available are relatively large and commonly have a cube-like appearance with each side being approximately three to four feet across. When installed, such evaporative coolers are typically located on the roof or the side of the enclosure to pass cooled air through either an existing window or an opening specially provided in the ceiling or wall.
A common disadvantage of presently-available evaporative coolers, however, is the difficulty encountered in performing the maintenance and repair these devices typically require such as in replacing the evaporative pads or repairing or maintaining the motor-driven blower assembly and other components. In particular, access to the evaporative pads and the other components housed in the cooler housing is limited, unintentionally, of course, by the design of the unit and the manner in which it is constructed. Such devices have commonly provided a bottom sump pan serving as a water reservoir and have a centrally located riser to which the motor-driven blower is assembled. Exterior louvered panels or the like are typically secured, such as by bolts, to corner frame members extending upwardly from the sump pan or by virtue of an interference fit with an overlapping top cover, and the top cover typically is secured to the unit by the aforementioned interference fit or by bolts. In some prior coolers, the evaporative pads have been assembled to the louvered panels in an immediately adjacent or spaced relation and secured to the corner frame members such that the panels must be removed to gain access to the pad assemblies for replacement of the pads. Even with the louvered panel and the pad assembly removed, however, access to the interior of the unit for performing maintenance or repair of the other components, for example, the motor-driven blower, the water distribution system or the like, is usually limited. Consequently, maintenance and repair are somewhat more difficult than is desirable. In fact, because of the inaccessable nature of many of the components, such as the blower system, it is common to have the blower assembly and other components somewhat permanently mounted to the structure by tabs or bolts. Thus, in order to remove a particular component, part of the structure itself, such as the securing tabs, must be deformed or unbolted from the side. This naturally discourages proper maintenance and/or repair. Moreover, when the louvered panels are removed and laid aside while the pads are replaced or work is performed on the other components, the panels may be inadvertently dented or scratched, marring the exterior appearance of the unit.
Alternatively, in some evaporative coolers, it may be necessary to remove the top cover from the unit to gain access to the evaporative pads and the other components. Even then it is usually necessary to disassemble the pads from the louvered panels or the corner frame members to permit removal of the evaporative pads. Also, in order to remove the blower assembly, as may be required at times, the securing tabs must be released, or if the blower assembly is bolted to the riser, the bolts must be removed. Not only is removal of the blower assembly difficult because the bolts are usually installed horizontally, it is even more difficult to reassemble the blower assembly to the riser because the holes for the bolts, or sheet metal screws, in the side of the blower assembly and the side of the riser must be realigned from a vantage point above the unit. Of course, when the top cover is removed, it may be inadvertently knocked to the ground from the roof on which the evaporative cooler may be located, and the resulting damage to the top cover may require its repair, especially where an interference fit is relied upon to secure the top cover in position on the cooler.